EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS — the term has gained currency as a major criticism of the war on drugs of the Duterte administration. The proof of the crime: bodies felled by unidentified killers or vigilantes, in the dead of night or in the light of day.Extra-judicial confessions — the term is known to men and women of […]

LAWYERS of the Philippine National Police-Legal Service used to sing a different song in regard to voluntary surrender and extra-judicial confession of suspects in crime. Their stern warning to policemen was: Respect the rights of the accused, know, follow the law.In April 2012, the PNP Legal Service issued a “Legal Advisory” on the matter of […]

THE PINK BLOTTER of the Women and Children Desk that should exist in every police station tells not only the story of children in conflict with the law, but also of the women, lesbians, and bisexuals linked to alleged violations of the law.From July 1 to Aug. 28, 2016, data from the Philippine National Police […]

IN THE PHILIPPINES, the end of Ferdinand Marcos’s 20-year dictatorship in 1986 was a tumultuous time. The new government of Corazon Aquino was being challenged on all fronts: from the Right, by ambitious military factions plotting coups; from the Left, by peasant guerrillas and angry protesters demanding radical reforms. In those days, I was working […]

MARAGONDON, Cavite – Since school opened last June, the balitaan portion of eighth-grader Micaella Javier’s Araling Panlipunan class has been full of reports on the deaths prompted by President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s war on drugs.Save for stories about the State of the Nation Address and the controversy over the West Philippine Sea, nearly all the […]

TV REMAINS the major source of information and entertainment among Filipinos even as watching content via digital platforms has risen in the last two years among those with Internet access.Nielsen’s TV Audience Measurement, released in December 2015, shows that Filipinos watch TV for 33 hours per week, or a daily average of nearly five hours. […]

TANAY, RIZAL — The fresh wind blowing through the spacious rundown facility can make one feel relax, energized, or even nostalgic. But many of those who had taken temporary residence here had been constantly plotting to escape it – until recently.“They tell me, ‘we no longer want to get out of here because of what […]

THEIR TASKS have never really been easy, but President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s war on drugs has most probably made their life much more toxic.Aside from their regular duties, they are now expected to run after “ninja cops” or coddlers of drug syndicates, as well as investigate the cases of violent deaths that keep on multiplying […]

THERE’S OBVIOUSLY big money in the illegal-drug trade, so much so that it has made criminals even out of some members of the police force – a fact that authorities themselves have often acknowledged. And that may be why the Duterte administration has decided to throw money on the table as well in its bid […]